Moran vs. NFLPA and NFL Players Inc.

Does the NFLPA think the same way about you?

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Valerie Thomas

Former NFLPA Director of Human Resources Mary Moran is at WAR against the NFLPA and she is taking no prisoners. In August 2009 Moran filed a $4 million lawsuit that claimed sex discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination of her employment in violation of public policy because she participated in a DOL Office of Labor Fraud and Racketeering investigation of the NFLPA. Moran claimed that the actions of NFLPA management created serious and troubling ethical concerns for her. General Counsel Richard Berthelsen called Mary Moran “a necessary casualty.”

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Before everyone and their brother jumps in to try and take credit for it, DeMaurice Smith and his crew have been working with the NFL to protect retired players’ disability benefits during a potential lockout in 2010. So De Smith was right – without the express agreement of the NFL, retired players’ benefits could have been severely impacted by a lockout.

AAA

This just officially announced (click on the letter to enlarge for reading):

AAA

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Once in a while, we run across a piece so well-written and easy-to-understand that to try and improve on it would be a waste of time. The following is a recent post written by Jordan Kobritz in The Seymour Herald (out of Seymour, Tennessee) and we’re posting the entire piece with the kind permission of Herald Publisher Joe Karl.

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kobritz’s corner

You gotta love the PR machine that is the $7 billion-a-year juggernaut known as the NFL.

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Here’s the official NFLPA Press Release on their newly-announced Concussion & TBI Committee. We want to point out that while any movement forward is always a good thing, sometimes you have to look at what’s NOT said as much as what IS said. Read the announcement carefully and you’ll notice that they say they’re concerned about taking care of CURRENT players who are injured and they also want to study the effects to reduce or eliminate brain injuries and concussions.

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But there should have been a third item added to the announcement: The Retired Players Union will also be committed to ensuring that retired players whose brain injuries have been neglected all these years are now encouraged to re-apply for their disability benefits and their Union will stand behind them. THE NFLPA will cooperate fully with any and all investigations including the upcoming Congressional hearings.

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Over the past couple of weeks, there’s been a lot of media coverage on the effects of brain injuries and concussions in football. We’ve seen two articles from Alan Schwarz of The New York Times, as well as stories from The Washington Post and The New York Daily News:

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For the first time, the NFL and the NFLPA extended an invitation to “The Independent Retired Players” to attend and participate in a meeting called to discuss the problems that continue to plague Retirees. Bob Grant, an Independent Activist and Advocate for our cause, was asked to attend on behalf of the Retired Players.

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While much was left unaddressed at the end of this first meeting, many issues were brought into the discussion that were not a part of the original limited agenda announced by Harold Henderson (NFL Attorney), who chaired the meeting.

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Grant told the Attendees at the Meeting that the days of the NFL and the NFLPA with their “Insiders” making decisions for Retired Players without our direct participation have to end.

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I would urge every retired football player to write Judge Alsup whether you are on the (thus far) confirmed Katz/Adderley Kessler/Berthelson list of 2062 or not; there is proof of over 3,000 but it’s up to Judge Alsup to demand it as part of perjured testimony.

Many of you know you signed GLA’s but are not included in Players Inc. records managed by Players Inc. employee, Kelly Skubick, who told interviewers she took care of licensing for “over 3,000” retired players in an article published on Oct 3, 2008. Katz refused to use this information which I supplied to him in time to be used in the trial. Kelly Skubick has very recently left her $50,000+ job at Players Inc., a job she told the interviewer that she loved. I now understand that her computer with the records of over 3,000 retired players who are covered by licensing agreements may have been damaged by the convenient fire in the NFLPA offices shortly after DeMaurice Smith took office replacing Upshaw. Katz has allowed Berthelson and Kessler to continue saying only 2,062 retired players had signed GLA’s when he knew that was not true and that the Players Inc. employee who handled servicing those GLA’s on a daily basis said there are over 3,000. That, Mr. Katz, is perjury on their part as I pointed out to you shortly after I gave you that information which certainly extends any time limit problems you claim to exist.

This issue is important since it reduces the damage award in this case by 33% whatever the true amount of the award should be. That is an increase of $9.3 million raising the incorrect $28.1 million to $37.4 million while 133% of $106.9 million raises the Rowley-calculated damages to over $140 million. Since the NFLPA’s Executive Committee calls $28.1 million “Chump Change,” they need a stronger message – like $140 million from Judge Alsup’s court.

PERHAPS THE BEST OPTION IS TO PRINT THIS OUT, SIGN IT AND MAIL IT TO JUDGE ALSUP. LET HIM KNOW WE ALL CARE, WE ARE MAD AS HELL AND WE AREN’T GOING TO TAKE IT ANY MORE! continue reading »

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A few months ago, the media reported that newly-elected NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith had returned to D.C. from another road trip meeting with active players, only to find his office engulfed in flames. (Read that post from June HERE.) Apparently someone had left a candle burning in an adjacent bathroom late at night while the new boss was away… (?!!!) It seems that a lot of old Gene Upshaw memorabilia may have been damaged or destroyed in the fire.

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So now more news comes out to confirm that Mary Moran, the NFLPA’s highly-paid Director of Human Resources, had been placed on suspended leave  – WITH pay – a few weeks ago. Moran, daughter of Congressman Jim Moran (D-Michigan), filed a tell-all discrimination lawsuit for $4 million last week against the NFLPA and apparently also had Daddy kick off an investigation by the Dept. of Labor. While we’ve only seen snippets of the lawsuit, we understand there’s something on pretty much everyone in the lawsuit. Looks like Moran is now taking a scorched earth approach to her departure. (Read the coverage on Sports Business Journal HERE.) Talk about burning all your bridges behind you as you leave.

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Pro Football Players Re-Unification Project

No one can make an intelligent decision without being properly informed. Every one of us has advised our children, grandchildren and friends on “the value of family.”

And no one can deny that there is presently a wide gulf that separates today’s players from yesterday’s players:

1. Everyone seems to be afraid to acknowledge the difference in the racial makeup of players of yesteryear versus that of today’s Players, for fear of being accused of playing the now infamous “race card.” We have avoided open discussion on this sensitive fact. Ignoring an “eight hundred-pound Gorilla” in the room or pretending that it isn’t there will never solve the problem that each and every one of us knows exist. The open dialogue encouraged in this Project should help build a bridge that addresses this divide.
2. Secondly there is a cultural and age divide between Retired Players and Active Players that must be bridged and no bridge can be built to span that part of the gulf until we begin to openly address those issues. This Project should help build a bridge that spans the gulf at that point.
3. Finally, there is an economic divide that must be bridged. Active Players think that the Retired Players made a lot more money during their careers than they actually did, and the Players of yesteryear think that the Players today make a lot more than they actually do. In either era, if the top 20% of Players are removed from the equation used to calculate the average salaries today and yesterday, they will find that the averages are typically much lower than are represented in the media.

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The Associated Press reports this morning that 20 current and former NFL players headed to Capitol Hill to lobby members of Congress to help avoid a lockout in 2011 if a new CBA is not reached. (Read that article by Frederick Frommer HERE.) De Smith told reporters that the players would remind Congress about the “gifts” Congress bestows on the league, such as an antitrust exemption for broadcasting contracts. (You can also read the story on ESPN HERE.)

The AP article from Frommer stated: “It may be hard to conjure up much sympathy for football players making seven-figure salaries. But Smith noted that thousands of people are employed as stadium workers.” I almost wet my pants laughing! How stupid do they think Congress is? They’re concerned about stadium workers? How about the thousands of retired players who paved the way for those seven-figure contracts? Guys whose NFL pay was so meager – they needed to work in the off-season to make ends meet. How about the guys – including Hall of Famers – who are subsisting on NFL pensions that aren’t enough to pay their utilities bills? How about all the guys who paved the way for today’s millionaires with their knees, spines and shoulders and can’t get the disability and medical benefits that they so justly deserve?

I guess the NFLPA thinks they can shovel it because they think they got away with it a couple of years ago when they submitted the NFLPA White Paper after the Congressional hearings. It has so much misinformation and half-truths that it’s almost worthless. “The truth, without the whole truth, is meaningless and just as good as a lie!”

The Union’s actions highlight the fact that it is not just the NFL which is responsible to properly take care of retirees. The PA is the other party to the CBA and any agreements on health, disability and pension reform.

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We keep getting inquiries and comments on an almost daily basis asking about when the retired players will finally be receiving their Players Inc. settlement money. Since the settlement was first announced with great fanfare in early June at a well-covered press conference that included NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith, plaintiffs’ attorney Ron Katz and plaintiff Herb Adderley, few details have been available on how, what, when, where and why. We need a Jerry Maguire to remind the NFLPA/Players Inc. to Show Us the Money!

Here are some comments from a recent e-mail from Bernie Parrish, the original plaintiff in the lawsuit:

“I have yet to find any retired player in the class – or even outside the 2,062 member class – who was consulted about the settlement before Katz accepted the strange $26.25 million deal that Kessler says he “crafted” and that Katz ordered Adderley to accept, telling Adderley it came from Latham & Watkins, a special law firm who suddenly arrived on the scene to hand Kessler’s “crafted” settlement deal to Katz…

“Adderley told the press conference he had not discussed the settlement with any other retired players because he just found out about it on Wednesday [Editor's Comment: The day before the press conference] and then met D Smith the day of the settlement press conference. And there are lots more lawyerly shenanigans where this comes from. I’ll be emailing them to you shortly.”

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Maybe we should be thanking DeMaurice Smith. After all, he signed the 2008 LM-2 even though he didn’t step into office until this Spring. Some of these items seem to be listed out in more detail than last year and there are other details that weren’t disclosed in the 2007 LM-2.

• Electronic Arts Inc. Pg. 48 Amount $29,873,436.00 (WOW! here we go again – EA paid royalties for 2008 that totaled MORE than what the entire settlement was for the Players Inc. lawsuit, folks!) (Question: Just how many retired players have current GLA agreements for Players Inc. now? Or perhaps we should say, “How few?”)
• NFL Ventures: Sports Organizations Pg. 56 Amount $41,513,624.00 (Please explain)
• Don Russ Playoff Inc. (Licensee): pg. 59 $6,715,129.00
• Octagon Football: pg. 779 Amount: $411,929.00 (What is Octagon Football?)
• Super Bowl Game (tickets?) pg 789 Amount: $289,800.00 ( Who were these tickets for?)
• Washington Redskins: Pg. 794 Amount $141,929.00 ( What is this for?)
• NFL Coaches Assoc. (Group licensing) Pg. 776 Amount $500,000.00 (Does the NFLPA also represent NFL coaches now?)
• NFL Management Council Pg. 777 Amount $221,774.00 (What could this be for?)
• Weil, Gotshal & Manages: (Attorney fees) : Pg. 794 Amount $628,646.00 (What services did they provide?)
• NFL Experience (tickets) Pg. 777 Amount $8,033.00 (Even more tickets? Heck – between all the free tickets given to the NFLPA, the Alumni AND the NFL, no wonder paid tickets cost so damn much!)
• Dewey, Leboef: (Attorney fees) Pg. 756 Amount $8,146,976 (Was this all for the Players Inc. debacle?)
• Groom Law Group (Attorney fees) Pg. 762 Amount $586,355.00 (Which part of the disability debacle is this for?)
• The Fairmont Kea Lani Maui: Pg. 798 Amount $1,369, 082.00 Nothing but the best for the NFLPA Leadership. (Guess this must this include room service?)
• The Nanny Connection (again): Hawaii: child care provider 2008 NFLPA board meeting pg. 801 Amount $7,112.00 (How many children were each NFLPA leader allowed to bring?)
• NFLPA Board Meeting (United Airlines) Pg. 805 Amount $322,399,00 (These were first class seats? Just exactly how many people do they have?)
• Ritz- Carlton Hotel: Puerto Rico NFLPA Retired Players 2008 convention Pg. 803 Amount $227,040,00 (Steering Committee: Where’s the next meeting?)
• Gaguas, Puerto Rico: NFLPA Retired players 2008 convention Pg. 799 Amount $28,255.00 (Is this another child care expense or…?)
• Retired Chapters Officers Meeting Pg. 799 Amount $52,806.00 (Where did this important meeting take place? We KNOW we didn’t spend this much to put on our entire Summit!)

Find any other juicy LM-2 goodies that we need to point out? Drop us a line!

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While the cat’s away, the mice will play. There seem to be lots of conflicting public comments floating around these days. Since when did Miki Yaras-Davis become a spokesperson or advocate for retired players benefits and rights?

From Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback on SI.com:

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Wow!

We already have guys like Mike Florio starting to work toward dividing the Players who were recognized in the suit. Seems to me that there are always those who want to pit players against one another like Pit Bull Dogs. Why didn’t Mike mention that the Man who initiated the suit and provided the early financing is not even a member of the Class and isn’t even getting paid. (Click HERE to read that post from Mike Florio on ProFootballTalk).

I think that folks should just calm down a bit and give both Parrish and Smith time to gather their thoughts and we can hear how they see it all in thirty days or so. I just hope that all of the boys who do get paid will kick in the $1,000.00 to the war chest that Bernie has requested for the legal actions that we have planned so that ALL retired players can get a few bucks next time.

I also find it funny to hear darn near everybody taking credit for this settlement and the check isn’t even signed yet. Why weren’t they taking credit for us “getting our bubble gum taken” when “Mean Gene” aka “Darth Vader” was staring them down?

It was probably a wise move on the Owners part when they hooked up with the “Fourth and Alumni” fellas and it was smart on the part of Smith to put a “maybe settlement” on the table. It’s just politics folks, just politics. That’s the way and nature of the game.

Bob Grant

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Getting our hands on the NFLPA’s 2007 LM-2 financial report to the US Dept. of Labor was as close as we can get to a forensic audit of how the Union spent (or misspent) everyone’s money (read that post from last February about 2007’s LM-2 HERE). And once again, it took a while to find it and even longer to download (crashed my browser a few times) and save as a PDF file (crashed a couple of times again!). But now we have all 810 pages of this file and it was around 5 Meg of data. Then we also had to break it up into smaller sections so the special document viewer wouldn’t choke on it. So at last, here it is!

Some interesting things we noticed on first glance:

It was signed by NFLPA President Kevin Mawae and new Executive Director DeMaurice Smith on May 28th, 2009 (like last year). But DeMaurice Smith wasn’t the head honcho in 2008. It was Gene Upshaw until August 2008 and then General Counsel Richard Berthelsen was acting Executive Director until a permanent replacement was put in place this year. Does that make DeMaurice Smith fiscally responsible for what happened last year BEFORE his watch?

You may remember the Jeff Nixon post about Drew Brees and the ensuing comments from retired players about his callous attitude towards them (read that HERE). Guess what? On Page 14 under the section All Officers and Disbursements to Officers, Brees was paid a total of $434,847 as Vice President of the NFLPA (page 14). While we haven’t yet looked into the details of what all that money was for, he was definitely better paid than former President Troy Vincent who only received $24,841 (before he was kicked out by Gene Upshaw for bringing up the idea of a successor) and current President Kevin Mawae, who received a paltry $27,442. Now we understand! Perhaps THAT’S why they call Drew Brees VICE President! All the other Vice Presidents received around $20 – $25,000 apiece last year (?).

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